The Next Check Bouncing Scandal?

It probably won't raise to the level of the infamous 1994 checking kiting scandal, but it is pretty outrageous.

At least 10 House members are spending more than $1,000 a month in taxpayer money to lease cars.

Rep. Emanuel Cleaver appears to be the biggest spender.

In the last quarter of 2009, the Missouri Democrat doled out $2,900 a month to lease a WiFi-equipped, handicap-accessible mobile office that runs on used cooking oil.

“Rather than paying for an additional office, the congressman has a mobile office, with all the capabilities to do casework across the district,” Cleaver spokesman Danny Rotert wrote in an e-mail. “We can go where our constituents are and accommodate those in wheelchairs with the mobile office’s lift.” . . .

But at least nine other members are paying more than $1,000 a month for more basic rides. . . .

Rep. Silvestre Reyes (D-Texas) -- $1,628 to lease a GMC Yukon
Rep. Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick (D-Mich.) -- $1,230 per month
Pedro Pierluisi, the Democrat who represents Puerto Rico, spends $1,400 each month on his hybrid GMC Yukon
Rep. Harry Teague (D-N.M.) -- spends $1,279 in taxpayer money on his vehicle, a 2009 Chevy Malibu
Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. (D-Ill.) spent $1,259 per month last quarter for a hybrid Toyota Highlander
Rep. Lacy Clay (D-Mo.), who represents St. Louis, spends $1,059 a month on a hybrid Ford SUV
Rep. Paul Kanjorski (D-Pa.) spends $1,026 each month on a hybrid Mercury Mariner
Rep. Sam Johnson (R-Texas) spends $1,143 each month
Rep. Bill Delahunt (D-Mass.) leases a hybrid Ford SUV for $1,108 a month
Reps. Gregory Meeks (D-N.Y.) pays $998 a month for his Lexus.

Some lawmakers spend far less on leases. Indiana Rep. Joe Donnelly, a Democrat, spends $450 each month. And Rep. David Drier (R-Calif.) spends $366 a month. . . .